[2023 Property Disclosure] Despite Economic Slowdown, 70% of National Assembly Members Increase Wealth by Over 100 Million Won in One Year

206 out of 296
258 lawmakers increased their assets compared to last year

Last year, out of a total of 296 members of the National Assembly, 206 saw their assets increase by more than 100 million KRW, accounting for about 7 out of 10 (69.59%).

According to the regular asset change report list disclosed by the National Assembly Public Officials Ethics Committee on the 31st, 258 out of 296 members of the National Assembly (87.2%) reported assets this year that increased compared to last year's reported amount. This means that 8 to 9 out of 10 members saw their assets grow within one year.

Hayoungje, a member of the People Power Party, is making a personal statement regarding the arrest consent bill against him at the 2nd plenary session of the 404th National Assembly (extraordinary session) held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 30th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Looking at the scale of the increase, a total of 206 members saw their assets grow by more than 100 million KRW.

By range, 8 members (2.7%) increased by more than 1 billion KRW, 18 members (6.1%) increased between 500 million KRW and less than 1 billion KRW, and 180 members (60.8%) increased between 100 million KRW and less than 500 million KRW.

The member with the largest asset increase was Han Mu-gyeong of the People Power Party, whose previously reported assets of 13.86658 billion KRW rose to 20.9189 billion KRW, an increase of 7.03531 billion KRW in one year.

Park Jeong of the Democratic Party reported 45.81482 billion KRW last year, but this year reported 50.5985 billion KRW, an increase of 4.78368 billion KRW. This reflects changes in the valuation of unlisted corporations such as Park Jeong Language Academy, which he owns. The unlisted stocks reported by Park, including those held by his spouse, totaled 15.495 billion KRW, up from 13.33667 billion KRW last year.

Jung Woo-taek, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly from the People Power Party, reported assets of 14.3142 billion KRW this year. This is an increase of 3.18469 billion KRW from the previously reported 11.12951 billion KRW. This reflects an increase in his personal deposits from 2.1 billion KRW to 5 billion KRW.

The member with the largest assets among the National Assembly members is Ahn Cheol-soo of the People Power Party.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Ahn reported assets of 134.796 billion KRW this time, a significant decrease from the previous 204.0555 billion KRW. This is due to the valuation of 1.86 million shares of AhnLab he holds changing from 193.44 billion KRW to 124.062 billion KRW.

Even with a total decrease of 69.3459 billion KRW, he still holds the largest assets among National Assembly members.

Next, Jeon Bong-min of the People Power Party reported 55.91677 billion KRW, ranking second in asset holdings. Jeon reported 106.55578 billion KRW last year, but this time it nearly halved. This is due to changes in the valuation of stock blind trusts and unlisted stocks he owns. The valuation of companies where he was CEO, such as Ijin Housing and Dongsu Construction, decreased from 91.86016 billion KRW to 44.36192 billion KRW.

Park Deok-heum of the People Power Party also saw a decrease in reported assets to 52.61714 billion KRW this year from 67.23846 billion KRW last year. This is due to the establishment of stock blind trusts for unlisted stocks he owns. Most of Park’s assets consist of real estate. Park and his spouse reported land including plots in Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, and farmland in Bukbang-myeon, Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon Province.

On the other hand, Jin Sun-mi of the Democratic Party reported negative assets (-934.3 million KRW) due to spouse debts, ranking last for the second consecutive year. Kim Min-seok of the same party also reported negative 14.01 million KRW.

Meanwhile, the average assets of National Assembly members were 3.48462 billion KRW, an increase of over 300 million KRW from last year’s 3.15915 billion KRW.

By party, the average assets were 5.67309 billion KRW for the People Power Party, 2.12818 billion KRW for the Democratic Party, and 879 million KRW for the Justice Party.